The European Commission, with its 25,000 officials stationed in Brussels, is besotted with targets and planning.

Sometimes Brussels could almost be mistaken for that former capital of ritualised forward-thinking - Moscow, particularly if you focus on how few targets are ever met and the drab buildings in which they are drawn up.

But Brussels planning machinery goes on. Despite the serious internal problems which have sapped its energies over the last 18 months, the European Commission continues to press ahead with ambitious policy proposals in a wide range of business-related spheres.

A great many of these initiatives relate directly to the post-euro scenario for which the European Union appears to be preparing rather better than for the introduction of the euro itself. It is somewhat curious that the euro has been largely out of the news, except for the heated exchanges recently when the British and Irish press attacked the European Commission's interference in the monetary policy of the Irish Republic.

As the single currency represents the most important single pooling of national sovereignty since the old Common Market began, one might have expected a greater degree of debate as the introduction of euro notes and coins nears.

The relative silence on the euro can be attributed partly to the fact that the presidency of the European Union is currently the responsibility of Sweden, which is outside the single currency zone.

While it seems that the question of managing the transition to the new European money is on hold until one of the euro-11 take on the presidency of the EU (Belgium is next in line), the post-euro scenario is increasingly assuming centre stage for the Brussels policy-makers. We are witnessing a proliferation of new targets and deadlines.

Recently, a meeting of European Union industry ministers was held in Manchester to discuss the policies which are required to transform the EU into the most competitive region of the world by 2010. Under consideration was the idea of adopting enterprise targets for individ-ual member states and the EU as a whole.

These would relate to areas such as lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, costs of company registration and granting state aids, all with the purpose of fostering economic dynamism.

The Commission has also announced the launch of a strategy aimed at dismantling barriers to pan-European trade in services. This results from the recognition that 36 million jobs could be created if the European services sector were to grow to the size as that of the United States.